​Chicken flavored potato chips, lovely. I need to be bit more careful when reading labels. I saw a word starting with a “p” and thought plain, when it really said “pollo” which means chicken. It’s not my first mistake. I study Spanish at least two hours a day, but there is a lot of pantomiming and guessing going on out there when I’m in the real world.​ We hadn’t planned to stop in Santa Marta, but our friends on Uno and S’Bella were here and gave it a good report. Checking in to Colombia is a bit expensive. It’s a $150 fee for the agent and another $100 for the customs/immigration fees. You are required to use an agent as Colombia is not really set up to deal with private yachts and there is a lot of red tape. The agent knows all the places to go and eventually you get a cruising permit. For our friends on S’Bella it took 5 weeks, but our friends on Uno had theirs in a week. The Santa Marta Marina pays the agent fee if you stay here, so that kind of makes it a no-brainer.

A marina skiff met us outside the breakwater and showed us to our slip. The dock hands helped us tie up and when I went to the office to check in, they said, “Glass Slipper! We’ve been waiting for you. Your friends told us you were coming.” It was quite a nice reception.

Santa Marta is the oldest surviving city in South America with a population of about 400,000. It’s nestled between the beach and the foot of the snow- capped Sierra Nevada Mountains. Colombians vacation here and it’s hopping with people, day and night. Just past the marina and to the left is a lovely waterfront park that is well lit and people swim late into the evening. The sidewalks are crammed with vendors selling all sorts of tasty snacks. There are old fashioned snow cone machines, the kind where you grind the ice by hand, people with tiny charcoal grills cooking meat/vegetable skewers and roasting corn on the cob, people making all sorts of fresh fruit juices, beer, soda, arepnas, and these little fried corn cakes with a fried egg inside to name just a few.There is always music and it is a very festive atmosphere.

There are no giant hotel chains littering the seaside, but rather lots of tiny little hotels and endless cafes set back from the busy road that is always crammed with buses and taxis. The police are everyone, usually walking in a group of four or more. In the early morning, when I like to walk the dog, there are people in green uniforms sweeping and cleaning the beach and sidewalks. It looks nice for a few hours, but by my evening walk it’s a bit of a mess.

Along the marina front there are fancy, modern little cafes with outdoor tables, a health club that does a loud zumba class on their outdoor balcony at 6 a.m. , and to the right of the marina high rise condos, another lovely beach, this one with no vendors… and at the very, very far end is a naval base with an officers resort on the beach. The marina advertises that they have swimming pools, but this actually means they give you a day pass to the officers club so you can use their pool and beach.

Colombians seem to be huge on Christmas decorations and there are lights everywhere, on the streets, in the parks, and balconies. What you don’t see though is much in the way of greenery. There are few palm trees and bushes, but no grass. And it’s always dusty as the wind is always blowing.

In addition to the beautiful, huge marina, there is a busy commercial pier. At any given time there are two ships on the docks and four or more anchored in the bay awaiting their turn. When the wind blows from the docks, it’s a nasty affair with coal dust settling on the boat leaving a fine black grit. I have to dust and sweep inside daily, but it isn’t worth washing the outside more than once a week, as at 10 cents a gallon the water bill adds us quickly.

Did I mention it’s a noisy place, especially on weekends which seem to start on Thursday. Our boat is docked not far from an outdoor night club and the music starts at 11 p.m. and ends at 4 a.m. Ear plugs are the only option, but they work quite well, and I guess it’s just the price of being here. One lovely night our neighbor on a big fishing boat, played his music from an outdoor speaker so loud the glasses were rattling inside our boat. We were between his boat and the outdoor night club so we had music blaring on all sides. Finally at 4 a.m. a security guard climbed aboard and turned it off. Not much sleep on the Glass Slipper that night!

On balance though, it’s a fantastic place that even a few loud nights can’t spoil. We are two blocks away from a delightful little gourmet grocery store. The dollar is so strong here, we can buy a week’s worth of groceries for less than $50, and that is lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. A pineapple is about 80 cents, a box of milk $1, a package of chicken breasts or pork chops or fresh tamales $3. Lunch out with soup, salad, chicken and rice and a fresh fruit juice- $4. Lots of push cart vendors with fresh fruit, which they cut up on the spot, put in a large cup for 50 cents—pineapple, watermelon, mango. The only downside is the ice cream. The stuff is everywhere at a $1 for a double dip cone!

Coleen and I like to get sandwiches from the gourmet grocery store, walk to the park, find a bench and watch the people while enjoying our picnic supper. Everyone is out at night I think because it is too hot to be out during the afternoon. Everything is well lit and it’s lovely to just sit in the park or walk the streets, many of which are closed to traffic. ​Santa Marta is even more interesting when you get away from the seaside, huge public markets, malls, but I’d better save that for another day. Time to study my Spanish……

It was anchors up at 7 a.m. after a calm, quiet night in Cabo de la Vela for our 120 mile sail to Five Bays. At least we thought it was 7 a.m. It wasn’t until later in the day we realized we had changed time zones and had actually left at 6 a.m. I thought it a good way to trick the crew in to getting up earlier.

The sun was already shining brightly, the water smooth and a gentle wind so we put up full sail. Our course had us sailing 2 to 8 miles offshore as the seas on the coast were quite shoal. I would have preferred to stay closer inshore to see more scenery, but did not wish to risk the uncharted waters. Our Navionics charts for the area were quite poor and the Garmin not a lot better. It was calm enough I was able to rustle up some homemade biscuits and scrambled eggs in the galley, which helped the crew forgive me for the early start.Later in the day a five foot northerly swell kicked in making for another uncomfortable ride. Periodically we would lose the wind and crank up the motor, but wind or no wind the swell was persistent. We spotted our first two oil platforms about 8 miles offshore and gave them good clearance. Surprisingly in this same area we saw a small open fishing boat sailing fast with a green tarp for canvas. Another fishing boat stopped to take our picture.

We motored all night in an uncomfortable swell. Waking up from a fitful sleep, with an upset stomach to take my 2 a.m. watch was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I was downright miserable, but it was my turn, made a little more ginger tea, wedged myself into a corner in the cockpit and sat there for two hours questioning my life choices. It was a long night.

Morning saw us nearing the 5 Bays which are part of a national park. The bays are described as being similar to the fjords in Norway, with snowcapped mountains in the distance. The cruising notes we’d been using for Colombia mentioned we could stop there for an overnight, but both Noonsite said it was not permitted. Another cruiser had tried to stop there a few days before and was asked to leave. We debated back and forth and finally I decided to stop there and had a backup plan on where to go if we were run off. We picked the last of the 5 Bays as it was said to have the most protection from the swell. Sailing into that bay was amazing! Our little boat was moving along in a gentle breeze, mountains all around us, a huge white sand beach at the far end, the water was clear. It felt like being in a dream. We sailed around a bit before we settled upon a place to anchor that was away from the crowded beach, and dropped the hook in 37 feet almost next to the shore. It was truly one of the most beautiful and peaceful places we’ve been. Later that night I heard a terrible commotion and went outside to find that we were surrounded by jumping fish. Huge masses of fish were jumping as far as we could see all around the boat. It was quite the sight.​Next morning I jumped out of bed at 6 a.m. so as not to miss seeing the sunrise over the mountains. I had a long wait as it didn’t pop up until a little after 7. Meanwhile I enjoyed the peace and serenity, watching all the birds. I felt like the luckiest person on the planet and wished we could stay there for weeks. However, we were still not checked into Colombia and we’d finished the last of our fresh food. It was time to move on.

The passage from Aruba to Panama is known as one of the five most dangerous in the world. The wind can be in excess of 50 knots and the seas enormous. The trick is to make the passage during the break between seasons and even then to wait, wait, wait for that rare calm. Much past December the calms are harder to come by. As much as we loved Bonaire, we knew we needed to get moving as it was now Friday, November 27. The weather along the Colombian coast was forecast to be smooth and calm starting on Monday and it would be rainy, but not too windy over the weekend as we sailed past Aruba.

CuracaoWe filled with fuel and water at the marina and headed out for Spanish Waters, Curacao. We enjoyed a nice broad reach in 3 to 4 foot seas, wind 18 to 20 knots. It was only 38 miles and we arrived by mid afternoon. Coleen put up the yellow quarantine flag and we prepared for the heavy squalls that were forecast for the overnight hours. Thankfully they never materialized, so we headed out in skies filled with dark clouds the next morning. We motored in sloppy seas, a downpour and heavy shipping traffic for four hours before we finally were able to sail in a howling 30 knot wind heavily reefed, making 6 to 7 knots. We were in the lee of the island so there were no seas, and it was actually pretty good sailing, if you don’t take into account being wet and chilly. By midafternoon we dropped the hook in a lovely anchorage at the northern end of Curacao, in a little place called Santa Kruz. Again the weather was to be poor overnight with big seas between Curacao and Aruba so we decided to take refuge and wait it out.​Sailing past ArubaAt 7:45 the next morning we raised the hook and were off… next stop Colombia. We started out with full sail in a 15 knot wind and 3 to 5 foot seas on a nice broad reach. Hey, this was doable! The sun was shining, the skies clear, birds were everywhere. Life was good. And so it went until we were off shore of Aruba. The skies turned a horrible grey, ships were doting the seascape, and as the day drew to a close the seas built to seven feet on the beam. It was time to reef. We put in two for good measure as there was quite the lightening show in the distance. Yes, we were in the dreaded seas around Aruba and it was living up to its reputation.By 2 a.m. we had put in a third reef and rolled in the jib. We were sailing downwind and it was very, very rolly. I wasn’t even able to sleep in the cockpit floor as periodically I’d get thrown into the air. I was a bit unnerved and decided to just get up and help with DJ’s watch before mine started… just to get used to it all. That strategy seemed to work and by my watch time the conditions were still awful but I was used to it and knew it was not dangerous, just mighty uncomfortable.We adjusted our watch schedule for this portion of our trip as the 4 to 8 a.m. watch was just not working for Coleen. Teenagers are hard pressed to get up so early. Our new schedule had her on watch from 7 to 9 am, 11 to 1 pm, and 4 to 6 p.m., all shifts during daylight hours. In between her watches, she did school lessons, even managing to take a huge algebra test, and then managed to get a good night’s sleep. DJ and I alternated 2 hour watches overnight which seemed to work well, as neither of us were able to sleep much anyway.

Sunrise at sea is often the best part of the day and it always seems to be so slow in coming that once it arrives you feel like celebrating. I remember thinking that back in my land life, night seemed like it was 8 to 10 hours, because that’s when you slept. It didn’t matter that it was dark during the evening, you were inside with lights on. Half of your time at sea is in the dark with no lights or dim red lights that don’t ruin your night vision. That’s a long time! At night you have the illusion that the boat has picked up speed and you are flying through the water. The sound of the waves is louder too. The waves around Aruba sounded like freight trains as they would lift up the stern of the boat and roar under and rush past the bow. It took a bit of getting used to and I actually put in ear plugs. The waves sounded way scarier than they were.

Colombia’s Peninsula de GuajiraIt took most of the night and all the next day to sail around Peninsula de Guajira, the western tip of Columbia. The calm seas and no wind forecast never materialized and we continued to sail with just a triple reefed main all day. Just as we were ready to alter our course and tuck in behind the peninsula where we hoped to be out of the waves, a Colombian Naval ship popped up on the horizon. We didn’t want to cross in front of him so we slowed down to wait, which required dropping the sail. Finally the ship pulled alongside about 200 yards off our beam. We tried to call them on the radio a couple of times, but got no response. After a few minutes they took off, we made our turn and instead of a gradual turn around the peninsula on a broad reach, we got treated to big seas on the beam, my least favorite kind.​Cabo de la VelaColeen’s log entry for her 11 to 1 p.m. watch reads, “puked a couple times, all good”. That girl is quite the sailor! Finally around 4 p.m. in we arrived in Cabo de la Vela, Colombia. The area where we planned to anchor was dotted with fish pots, and a dozen or so fishing boats tending their nets. One of the fellows on a fishing boat motioned for us to follow him and he led us around the nets, where we found a good spot, although far from shore and set the hook in a howling 30 knot wind. Welcome to Colombia!The fishing boat pulled alongside and the man and his sons, the youngest around 4, were all grinning ear to ear. We felt like monkeys in the zoo. They were fascinated with us and our boat. I think especially Coleen’s red hair. They gave us a fresh lobster, which was clearly a gift, given with a huge smile. We responded with a t-shirt and they went away with even bigger smiles. A win for everyone!Cabo de la Vela is home to the Wayuu Indians who live in huts made of cactus right on the edge of the sea. It is said to be one of the most starkly beautiful places in Colombia, with rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and a backdrop of ocher colored desert. I describe is at the brown place… brown landscape, brown buildings and brown people… all put together very lovely.We enjoyed a delicious feast aboard Glass Slipper, with our lobster, some pork chops and a good old fashioned potato pancake. We closed up the boat good and tight and I slept the whole night without waking once.

​As we were making our way into the harbor our friends on Uno hailed us on the VHF radio. They had been in Bonaire for a few weeks and had the skinny on the best place to moor. Next thing you know Steve pulled alongside in his dinghy and helped us pick up a mooring, strategically close to the dinghy dock as our dinghy motor is still not working and we have to row. Steve offered me a ride to shore so I could check in, so I quickly changed clothes, grabbed our passports and boat papers and took him up on his offer. It was a short walk to the Duante (port office) where I quickly learned they wanted to see my crew too. (First time in over 14 countries the crew was required… generally crew is not allowed on shore before clearance). We got that sorted out and were checked into Bonaire… no fees.

Uno was headed out to a prime scuba/snorkeling spot and invited us to go along. So rather than dropping into a much needed heavy sleep, we quickly gathered up our gear and jumped aboard Uno. Susan prepared a delicious lunch with Dutch cheeses, meats and breads, while Steve sailed Uno to the far end of the island. It was great fun to be up on the high bridge deck of their catamaran, totally a different view of things than on Glass Slipper.

We picked up a mooring very close to the rocky shore. Anchoring is not permitted in Bonaire as the whole area is an underwater sea park. There are plentiful dive moorings scattered around the island, and the tiny Klien Bonaire. The dive moorings are free and the moorings for overnight are $10. The water was so clear you could see the bottom at 60 feet. The sea was overloaded with colorful fish and coral. It was great fun to snorkel. The Uno family had recently picked up some used scuba gear and invited Coleen to dive with them. I had a good time watching her dive. Unfortunately the camera fouled up and we have no pictures.The overnight moorings are quite close to the street, as in I can swim that far. Our first evening in Bonaire, we watched a Christmas parade while eating dinner on the foredeck. Admittedly it was a bit of a loud and bright place at times, and late that night some crazy guy ran his motorcycle up and down the street for a ½ hour while making it backfire. It bothered DJ and Coleen, but lucky for me I don’t hear too well.

The next day the Dutch family we met in Grenada invited us for a beach cookout on Klein Bonaire. They picked us up in their dinghy and we joined several other families aboard their lovely, huge older Bennateau. It was a short trip and soon we were ferrying people and gear to shore. Klein Bonaire is a small uninhabited island nestled in the bay. Gorgeous white sand beaches, great snorkeling, trails and a big barbeque made it the perfect place for a party. We went in the late afternoon, after all the tourist boats had left so it wasn’t crowded. Everyone brought tons of food to grill, plus sides so we had quite the international feast. We stayed well past dark, enjoying the full moon. Some of the teenagers drew a circle for wrestling and we all enjoyed watching them compete with each other and their dads.

Bonaire was one of our favorite stops. I only wish we had been able to stay for a month or more rather than a week. We filled our time snorkeling, sometimes from our mooring, and other times taking Glass Slipper to dive moorings. We rode our bikes, enjoyed browsing through the colorful shops, and provisioning with great Dutch food at good prices.​Each day we watched the weather, waiting for that perfect time to make tracks for Colombia. It was super hard to leave and I considered staying there for months, heck maybe just living there, but distant shores were calling and the weather looked favorable. Time to drop the mooring and go……

Coleen in her happy place at the Wattaburger in Bonaire...internet, hammock and a coke...heaven

Decorated tug boats parading to the docks with toys for the children, part of St. Nicholas celebration